1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to articles designed to maintain a clean environment and, more specifically, to an animal excrement collector whose main purpose is to collect animal excrement at the moment it is produced, thereby preventing dirt and pollution.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are known in the art some animal waste collectors designed to prevent pollution of places which owners or dog walkers take their animals to attend their physiological needs, including both urination and defecation. These collectors include brushes, bags to pick up and properly dispose of stools, and fixable harnesses which are located on the dog's body and which have a bag where excrement is stored to avoid polluting public places such as sidewalks, flowerbeds, and squares.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,949 describes “dogs' or other small quadruped animals' diaper.” This diaper is formed by a T-shaped textile band used for body and tail. It includes a bifurcation projected from said band's center with hook-and-loop fasteners on one or both sides and an absorbent pillow fixed at the center of the tail-band. It is fastened by embracing the animal's body and crossing both bands to each side of the tail. This device evidences partial and poor protection.
Patent number DE19827997 describes another type of “disposable diaper for all dog sizes.” It is very similar to baby diapers as it is fastened by adhesive tapes.
Patent number WO2001/43537 A1 refers to a “simple animal feces receiver, applicable to dogs.” It is composed of an annular inner band under which a feces-receiver bag is applied and which is in turn, fastened by another annular band fastened to the first band. It is fastened against the anus and kept in position by a pair of laces fastened by lateral straps extended along the internal face of the animal's back legs and going up the animal's hip where they are joined on the upper part of the body by another pair of straps tied to the inner annular band extended to each side of the tail. In order to remove the bag, the unit to be disposed is dismounted and removed between the two bands and the close it manually.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,691 comprises an “Apparatus to collect animal feces.” It is formed by a harness comprising an adjustable type of belt which is collocated on animal's body with stripes projected to the back ending on an annular body which carries a collecting bag collocated right next to dog's body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,059 is a “device to collect dog's or similar animal's waste.” It is composed by a harness designed to be adjusted to dog's body according to its size. It extends from dog's neck and by means of lateral stripes fastened along the body; a bag put against the anus is supported in a position that does not bother the animal.
All the above-mentioned inventions are fairly complicated in their method of location or attachment to the animal's body. In addition they are expensive and non-practical due to their awkward handling. Some of these inventions also have the major disadvantage of forcing the owner to manually remove the collecting bag, thereby running the risk of getting dirty and having to endure unpleasant smells; besides, placement and removal often requires several manipulations which can be time-consuming and awkward and which can turn a pleasant walk with the dog into a complex and annoying job.
In addition, Patent Application No. P03 01 03172 (EP1665928) can also be mentioned. It describes a particular invention which tends to resolve the problem. It consists of a device that is composed a disposable bag for animal waste collection which is adhered to a annular cardioid semi-rigid element to which elastics are hooked by means of removable devices designed to fasten the invention to dog's collar, harness or body. This invention has several aspects that could be improved, including: (a) the elastics, once the movable devices are activated, remained hooked to the collar or harness; (b) the use of the cardioid semi-rigid element adhered to the collecting bag so as to enable the functioning of the different removable fixable means due to the fact that what activates the trigger which detaches the elastics is the bag's closing filament which is attached to fixed points provided by the cardioid element; (c) a tuck is used on the bag generated on the perimeter of the opening which causes a complication at the time of threading the closing filament and at the time of sticking the bag to be commercialized; and (d) the fact that the closing filament is what enables detachment of mobile means, forces the person operating the device to make an additional movement. Improvement of all the above mentioned problems will facilitate the device's placement and removal and will improve significantly production costs.